The recent report showing a significant drop in bed occupancy across Nelson Mandela Bay is more than a tourism statistic. It is a red flag for the entire Eastern Cape economy and a stark reminder of how fragile job creation is in our province.
Bed occupancy fell to 57% in the 2024 summer season, down from 64% in 2023 and even further from the 69% recorded in 2019 before the pandemic. This is not a localised slump. It is part of a broader pattern of economic stagnation that has taken root under the current administration’s mismanagement.
Every empty guesthouse room represents lost income, lost seasonal jobs, and lost growth opportunities. The tourism sector is one of the Eastern Cape’s most promising industries. It is labour-intensive, diverse, and spread across urban and rural areas. And yet, despite this potential, the provincial government has no real tourism recovery strategy, no marketing campaign worth mentioning, and no urgency.
This matters for jobs. When tourists do not come, they do not spend. That means fewer waiters, fewer guides, fewer shuttle drivers, and fewer hospitality workers employed. With unemployment at crisis levels and youth unemployment among the highest in the country, we simply cannot afford missed opportunities.
The report clearly highlights that the Eastern Cape is losing ground to other provinces. Visitors are choosing cleaner, safer, and more efficiently run destinations. Crime, grime, and crumbling infrastructure are chasing tourists and investors away.
I will write to Premier Oscar Mabuyane to request a tourism indaba with all relevant stakeholders and government departments. We need a strategic, coordinated response that deals with critical road infrastructure, safety plans and support initiatives.
In the interim, we demand immediate action from the provincial government to deploy additional law enforcement resources, restore visible policing, and implement provincial tourism clean-up campaigns ahead of the Easter holidays.
Where the DA governs, we clean our towns, fix infrastructure, and create real conditions for job creation through tourism. The same can and must be done here.
The ANC government talks about job creation but fails at the basics. Safe cities, clean beaches, working streetlights, functional roads, and reliable water and electricity are the very things that tourists and businesses alike depend on.
Tourism is not a luxury. It is a jobs driver and a provincial growth engine. The decline in bed occupancy should be a wake-up call. The ANC’s inability to prioritise the fundamentals of economic development is costing people their livelihoods.
The Eastern Cape deserves more than empty rooms and empty promises. We deserve leadership that builds, invests, and delivers real jobs.